Rand Paul: GOP needs Ron's fans

Sen. Rand Paul said Monday night the key way for the Republican Party to “start winning races” is to embrace Rep. Ron Paul’s supporters and make “them an integral part of the party.”

The Kentucky Republican told Fox News’s Sean Hannity that a major part of his message during his Wednesday night speech to the Republican National Convention will be the role his father’s backers and libertarian-leaning Republicans should play in the future of the party.

“I think a big part of sort of the libertarian Republican or the Ron Paul Republicans is that I think they can help the Republican Party,” he said. “There’s many places in New England as well as California where we’re not winning statewide races. It’s very difficult for Republicans to win. So I think embracing and bringing in these liberty-minded, Constitution-minded people and making them an integral part of the party is the way we might start winning races where we’re not winning races.”

Paul also addressed the dustup between Chris Matthews and Reince Priebus on Monday’s “Morning Joe,” when the MSNBC host accused the Republican party of playing the race card against President Barack Obama. Paul said the presidential race “has nothing to do with race” and is based solely on the president’s policies.

“I think if anything, this really — when President Obama won, showed that the country was well beyond race,” Paul said. “I think most of the dialogue and debate has been very good. It’s been debate that has nothing to do with race. I think we want to judge President Obama simply on his policies. His policies failed the country. We’re drowning in a sea of debt.”